In Demand: CITY SUPPLY

By SARAH COLEMAN// Photos COURTESY

It was 2009, The Black Eyed Peas’ Boom Boom Pow charted at No. 1, the United States was facing the Great Recession, Razorback football won the Liberty Bowl, and a 21-year-old Kirsten Blowers-Morman was opening a refurbished furniture shop, Riff Raff, on the historic Fayetteville Square.

Blowers-Morman, a lifelong resident of Fayetteville was a senior interior design student at the University of Arkansas at the time she opened Riff Raff. Starting out she sold refurbished and hand-painted furniture, but before long she expanded to include small gifts and clothing. Upon graduation, Blowers-Morman stepped into entrepreneurship full time, buttressed by her eye for design and a knack for social media.

In optimizing her start-up, Blowers-Morman credits much of the storefront’s success to simply focusing on the items that were selling. Shortly after, Charlie Southern, a wholesale T-shirt company, was created out of necessity. Clothing consistently sold out quickly at Riff Raff, and in needing to produce more, faster, starting Charlie Southern was a natural step.

“I am extremely proud of the hard work that I put into Riff Raff and that over the 14 years of having the businesses, I employed around 250 employees who contributed a lot to the effort of growing,” Blowers-Morman said.

“I never would have imagined that it would grow into something this big, where we have a thriving online store that ships around 200 packages across the nation daily. And I certainly never imagined having a wholesale company, Charlie Southern, that would be connected with that as well.”

In 2016, Blowers-Morman was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in the category of retail and e-commerce as a 28-year-old, continuing to shine in her brick-and-mortar as well as online.

“Everything we accomplished with Riff Raff and Charlie South- ern came together very naturally. It was never forced, and that’s one of the best lessons I’ve learned from this business,” Blowers-Morman said. “If you’re forcing something in any career path, or any relationship, it’s not going to thrive.”

Blowers-Morman, a self-proclaimed quintessential busybee, found herself working 12- to14-hour days, devoting her time to the company she, in a way, grew up with. But the next step in the company’s development was going to take something more than a single person could do, even one as dedicated as she.

In 2018, she and her husband, Chase Morman, started City Supply in the space directly next to Riff Raff. Created on the couple’s desire to bring a classic general store to the area, the shop’s birth brought the rich history of the Fayetteville Square, the nostalgia of a Southern childhood and the familiarity of local goods to one place.

“There’s so many pictures of historic downtown Fayetteville, it’s close to the U of A, and the Bank of Fayetteville has such an amazing history,” Kirsten said. “I love being located on the square because it allows people to enjoy the history of the city while also shopping for locally sourced goods.”

Shortly after opening the old-time general store-inspired storefront, the couple had their son, Duke, bringing additional demands on her time, energy and attention.

“Once you have children your focus shifts and, you know, that’s really where I am now. I gave a lot of effort to Riff Raff, and once I started feeling myself stalling out, I just felt that the universe was saying, ‘It’s time to hand this over to someone who can work with and grow this company more than you already have,’” Kirsten said.

“I was feeling myself not giving City Supply all of the attention and energy it deserved. I definitely thrive in the startup phase of a business, and I do well in putting in hard work and manual labor on the front end, and that is really what I wanted to do with City Supply.”

Kirsten announced she was selling Riff Raff and Charlie Southern to Kelsie Nolte in December 2022. Prior to buying Riff Raff and Charlie Southern, Nolte served as director of Charlie Southern.

“Kelsie has been the director of Charlie Southern for over 10 years now. She really grew that company into what it is today, and she helped me build a million-dollar company,” Kirsten said. “I thought ‘Why not pass the entirety of both companies over to her?’ She will definitely continue to grow these companies, as she is extremely capable, smart, and one of the hardest-working employees that I’ve ever had.”

City Supply is not just a gift shop, it is a space of connectivity. Chase said he often hears conversations among guests, as they discuss their finds. The conversation discoveries are intentional, the result of the Mormans curating unique and eclectic inventory.

“I love getting to connect with the people who shop at our store. Guests will find a lot of great conversation pieces in City Supply, and it makes for a great environment,” he said.

One of the first things the couple decided on when opening City Supply was to have a projector streaming episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” a staple of Chase’s childhood.

“The show reminds him of his childhood but also reminds at least 20 other people a week about their childhoods,” Kirsten said, explaining they want the store to both be innovative and remind guests of their own happy nostalgia.

City Supply is a space everyone can enjoy with gifts specific to both men and women in any stage of life. Many of the goods are sourced from local entities.

“We love supporting small businesses and Arkansas-based producers,” Kirsten said. “If you buy a bottle of Guenther Apiary Arkansas Hot Honey, that money goes right back to the state. Instead of purchasing honey from a big box retailer that just puts a different label on it, you’re supporting a farmer right here in Arkansas. This cycles to our employees and through taxes to our city, county and state.”

During COVID-19, supporting local businesses meant the world to City Supply, as it solved a lot of supply-chain issues.

“A lot of our best-selling products come from Northwest Arkansas,” Chase said. “We can call Pink House Alchemy or War Eagle Mill and have a restock the next day.”

The couple is incredibly involved in the community, with philanthropic efforts valued in their household. The couple sits on the funds development committee for Children’s Safety Center of Washington County, where they meet once a month to brainstorm ways to raise money.

“Children’s Safety Center is the first responder to child abuse allegations, and we got involved with them because we find ourselves very, very fortunate that we have a family and home that is safe and healthy for our kids,” Kirsten said.

“We pour a lot of energy into making sure that our kids feel loved, safe and secure, and we know that, ultimately, a lot of children in our community do not feel that way. We’re all victims of our childhood, and so we want to make sure that we show up for kids that need direction and help in certain areas.”

Using their business as a platform, the Mormans raise as much money as they can for CSC. City Supply’s website provides an easy way to donate at the $5, $10 and $20 level online. Before selling Riff Raff, Kirsten also integrated donations through the store’s website. Not only that but select Riff Raff T-shirts and hoodies also go toward benefitting the center.

The duo grew up in Fayetteville, with Chase also having roots in Hope. As lifelong local residents, the couple is passionate about the area they reside in.

“I love everything about Fayetteville. I think a lot of my passion comes from working on the square for 14 years,” Kirsten said. “I always felt so at home being in the downtown area, I know everyone who works on the street and everyone that works in the different buildings around the square.

“There’s nothing better than parking my car, walking to Arsaga’s on Church and Center to get a London fog, and walking into work.”

Arsaga’s Coffee Roasters is a staple of Northwest Arkansas, bringing quality coffee to customers since 1992. While the roasters sell a wide variety of coffee drinks, Chase says he, unlike Kirsten, prefers his coffee black.

The Fayetteville Square maintains a small-town feel, despite the massive current and projected growth of the area. The Northwest Arkansas Council released a report in 2022 that forecasted 10 percent population growth from 555,000 to 611,000 in four years. Fayetteville alone had 95,230 residents in 2021.

“I was raised here, and I’ve seen it grow, and a lot of my best friends still live in the area. We’re still such a close-knit community.” Chase said. “We root for the Razorbacks, and there are plenty of things to do out- doors like hiking. This is such a fun place, and I couldn’t imagine myself or my family anywhere else.”

“With us both being from Fayetteville, we have a lot of friends and there’s not an hour that doesn’t pass that we don’t know someone personally that walks in the door. That’s such an awesome thing, and it’s something you don’t get to experience in really any other career, so that’s just one of the joys of having a retail shop in your hometown,” Kirsten added.

Social media has been a life-changing tool in the success of businesses. Approaching its fifth anniversary, City Supply boasts about 25,800 followers on Instagram while Riff Raff currently has 256,000 followers and Charlie Southern has 29,600.

Social media, specifically Instagram and Facebook, are important sources of inspiration in Kirsten’s work.

“I get a lot of inspiration from social media,” she said. “We both follow a lot of famous and successful chefs on Instagram, and from there we decide what cookbooks we want to carry. We like investing in what markets to our general interests and we are inspired to connect that way.”

“I look up to Kirsten, she’s been in this retail business for so long and I really appreciate watching her do what she does and watching her creativity pour out into what she does,” Chase said. “I’m learning from one of the best in the business, and I’m inspired by her and the community we have in Fayetteville. We live in a place that is extremely supportive of small businesses.”

Kirsten says she doesn’t only look up to other successful retailers but she also looks up to those who are doing what they love to do and cheering them on in the process.

“I hope to grow our reach and create more avenues for our customers to connect with us. Whether it’s through social media, events or through in-store or online classes, I want to build relationships with our customers,” she said. “I think [relationships] are something that we’ve missed over the past couple of years, especially through a pandemic, and I think it is very important for people to meet together and have connections. So, that is something that I would love to focus on over the next couple of years.”

“I think our biggest goal for City Supply is to keep doing what we do best, which is great customer service, innovative and new ideas and striving to do better,” Chase said. “It’s all a learning experience and I know we have some great things planned for this next year. We’re going to continue supplying local goods on the Fayetteville Square and having fun while we do it.”

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